Friday's Results: The Last Day of the 2012 Fall Season

For the final day the 2012 fall banding season, we banded 25 new birds and had 18 recaptures of 8 different species.  It was a typical late November mix of species with Yellow-rumped Warblers dominating.  I will be putting together a summary post sometime over the weekend with the season's totals and highlights.  Winter banding will begin around December 10th with banding occurring every 10 days through the end of March.  In addition, our second season of winter marsh sparrow banding will begin with sometime around December 12th to coincide with the higher (> 6 feet) daytime high tides.          

 

Returns from Previous Seasons:

 

Yellow-rumped Warbler (2) - 11/24/09, 2/15/12

 

NEW BIRDS

1 Hermit Thrush

23 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

1 Swamp Sparrow

 

RECAPTURES

1 Carolina Wren

1 House Wren

1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet

2 Hermit Thrush

4 Gray Catbird

8 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

1 Eastern Towhee

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  25

# of Recaptures:  18

# of Species:  8

Effort:  86.75 net-hours

Capture Rate:  49.6 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  17

Thursday's Results: Late Swainson's Thrush

Gusty winds forced us to shut down a little early and probably also contributed to the lack of birds captured today.  We only banded 12 new birds along with 9 recaptures of 6 different species.  However, the big surprise of the morning came when we banded a Swainson's Thrush!  This is very late individual as a bulk of the Swainson's Thrushes moved through KIBS during the end of September and beginning of October.  A majority of the Swainson's Thrush population should be in northern South America (eastern birds), or Central America and southern Mexico (western birds) by now.  There are very few late November records of Swainson's Thrushes in the United States.  Interestingly enough, one was reported on November 21st on neighboring Seabrook Island.

 

Tomorrow is the last day of the 2012 fall banding season.  Light east winds are predicted so hopefully we can finish the season strong!

Birds Banded in Previous Seasons:

Yellow-rumped Warbler - 11/27/11

Carolina Chickadee - 9/20/10



Swainson's Thrush (after hatch-year, sex unknown)




Swainson's Thrush



NEW BIRDS

1 Swainson's Thrush

1 Gray Catbird

10 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

 

RECAPTURES

1 Carolina Chickadee

1 Hermit Thrush

1 Gray catbird

5 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)
1 Swamp Sparrow

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  12

# of Recaptures:  9

# of Species:  6

Effort:  76.5 net-hours

Capture Rate:  27.5 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  17 

Wednesday's Results: 2 More Days Left . . .

We banded 25 new birds and had 18 recaptures of 6 different species.  It was kind of a surprise that we captured an unbanded Carolina Wren this morning.  I figured we had banded them all by now because we haven't captured an unbanded one since September 16th. 



Carolina Wren (hatch-year, sex unknown)



NEW BIRDS

1 Carolina Wren

22 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

2 Song Sparrow

 

RECAPTURES

1 Hermit Thrush

2 Gray Catbird

14 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

1 Swamp Sparrow

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  25

# of Recaptures:  18

# of Species:  6

Effort:  90.1 net-hours

Capture Rate:  47.7 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  17

Tuesday's Results: Orange-crowned Warbler Return

We had perfect banding conditions all morning long - no wind and overcast skies!  And as a result, we did very good with 46 new birds and 26 recaptures of 9 different species.  Yellow-rumped Warblers were the most abundant species with 39 banded.  Incidentally, that put us over the 1000 mark for yellow-rumps for the fall!

 

6 Returns from Previous Seasons:

Orange-crowned Warbler - 3/17/12

Yellow-rumped Warbler - 11/18/09, 11/15/10, 11/11/11, 11/17/11, 11/25/11



Orange-crowned Warbler (after hatch-year, male)




Swamp Sparrow (after hatch-year, sex unknown)



NEW BIRDS

3 Ruby-crowned Kinglet

1 Hermit Thrush

39 Yellow-rumped Warbler

3 Swamp Sparrow

 

RECAPTURES

1 House Wren

3 Ruby-crowned Kinglet

1 Hermit Thrush

3 Gray Catbird

2 Orange-crowned Warbler

13 Yellow-rumped Warbler

1 Eastern Towhee

1 Swamp Sparrow

1 Northern Cardinal

 

BANDING STATS

# of New Birds:  46

# of Recaptures:  26

# of Species:  9

Efforts:  108.8 net-hours

Capture Rate:  66.2 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  17

Monday's Results: Late Painted Bunting

We banded 25 new birds and had 19 recaptures of 9 different species.  It was nice not to have any wind for a change, although it did not seem to increase our capture rate any.  The most surprising bird captured today was a Painted Bunting!  Looking back over the last 4 years of banding data for KIBS, this is by far the latest Painted Bunting record we've ever had.  The last Painted Bunting captured this year was on 11/05/12 and the last one captured last year was on 10/21/11.  There are a handful of Painted Buntings that overwinter in SC, so maybe this bird has decided to try its luck here for the winter.

Five returns from previous year:

Brown Thrasher - 10/07/10

Yellow-rumped Warbler - 10/31/11, 11/13/11, 12/09/11, 03/07/12

Painted Bunting (hatch-year, sex unknown)



Downy Woodpecker (hatch-year, female) 

  

NEW BIRDS

1 Gray Catbird

19 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

1 Song Sparrow

2 Swamp Sparrow

1 White-throated Sparrow

1 Painted Bunting

 

RECAPTURES

1 Downy Woodpecker

1 Hermit Thrush

2 Gray Catbird

2 Brown Thrasher

10 Yellow-rumped Warbler

3 Swamp Sparrow

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  25

# of Recaptures:  19

# of Species:  9

Effort:  89.3 net-hours

Capture Rate:  49.3 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  17

Sunday's Results: 5 Days Left

We banded 16 new birds and had 12 recaptures of 10 different species.  Highlights included an American Robin and a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.  We also had 4 more returning migrants:  2 Yellow-rumped Warblers (11/08/10, 01/10/12), 1 Gray Catbird (11/08/10), and 1 House Wren (10/12/11). 



American Robin (after hatch-year, male)




Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (second-year, female)



NEW BIRDS

1 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet

1 American Robin

1 Gray Catbird

10 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

2 Swamp Sparrow

 

RECAPTURES

1 House Wren

1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet

5 Gray Catbird

2 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

1 Eastern Towhee

1 Song Sparrow

1 Northern Cardinal

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  16

# of Recaptures:  12

# of Species:  10

Effort:  67.3 net-hours

Capture Rate:  41.6 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  12

Saturday's Results: The Home Stretch

The 2012 fall banding season only has 6 days left and it has been really slow as of late.  Hopefully, the recent cold front that has moved across the Midwest and Northeast will force some birds south and we will finish strong.  

 

Today we only banded 20 new birds along with 13 recaptures of 7 different species.  The highlight of the day was a Palm Warbler, a species that we haven't banded in two weeks.  Palm Warblers are present in small numbers during late fall and winter so it is not that unexpected to have captured one today.  

 

NEW BIRDS

16 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

1 Palm Warbler (Western)

1 Song Sparrow

2 Swamp Sparrow

 

RECAPTURES

3 Gray Catbird

1 Brown Thrasher

7 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)  - 3 returns:  3/24/10, 11/15/10, 11/11/11

1 Swamp Sparrow

1 White-throated Sparrow

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  20

# of Recaptures:  13

# of Species:  7

Effort:  83.2 net-hours

Capture Rate:  39.7 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  16

Friday's Results: Field Sparrow

We banded 28 new birds and had 15 recaptures of 10 different species.  We had some interesting recaptures including a Sharp-shinned Hawk, an Orange-crowned Warbler, and 3 birds that have returned after being banded in previous years.  Those included a Swamp Sparrow (10/31/11), and two Yellow-rumped Warblers (1/17/11, 11/13/12).  The bird of the day was a Field Sparrow, only the 3rd one of the 2012 fall season! 



Field Sparrow (after hatch-year, sex unknown)



NEW BIRDS

25 Yellow-rumped Warbler

1 Field Sparrow

2 Swamp Sparrow

 

RECAPTURES

1 Sharp-shinned Hawk

1 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

1 House Wren

1 Hermit Thrush

4 Gray Catbird

1 Orange-crowned Warbler

4 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

1 Swamp Sparrow

1 White-throated Sparrow

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  28

# of Recaptures:  15

# of Species:  10

Effort:  57.0 net-hours

Capture Rate:  75.4 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  10

Thursday's Results: Happy Thanksgiving

Yes, we even band birds on Thanksgiving.  We were forced to shut down early because of the wind but still managed to get in about 4 hours of banding.  We banded 31 new birds and had 4 recaptures of 5 different species. 

 

NEW BIRDS

1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet

24 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

4 Song Sparrow

2 Swamp Sparrow

 

RECAPTURES

1 Gray Catbird

3 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) - I return from 11/13/11.

 

BANDING STATS

# of Banded Birds:  31

# of Recaptures:  4

# of Species:  5

Effort:  57.0 net-hours

Capture Rate:  61.4 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  17 (6 nets were shut down after a couple of hours) 

Wednesday's Results

Today was much slower than yesterday with only 23 new birds and 5 recaptures of 7 different species.

 

The highlight of the day was a recaptured Yellow-rumped Warbler that was originally banded on 3/24/10.   

 

NEW BIRDS

1 Hermit Thrush

1 Gray Catbird

20 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

1 Song Sparrow

 

RECAPTURES

1 Carolina Chickadee

1 Northern Mockingbird

3 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

1 Swamp Sparrow

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  23

# of Recaptures:  6

# of Species:  7

Effort: 83.3 net-hours

Capture Rate:  33.6 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  17

Tuesday's Results: Sparrows and Goldfinches!

Finally, after 6 straight days of blustery conditions, the winds subsided and we were able to open all of the nets!  We had a really good day with 62 new birds and 30 recaptures of 14 different species.  After hearing and seeing American Goldfinches flying around KIBS for the past couple of weeks, we finally netted 5 of them this morning - the first for the 2012 fall season.  Another first of the season was a Savannah Sparrow (recapture) .  This individual was banded last week during a marsh sparrow banding effort at KIBS but was not included in the fall totals because it was not captured in one of our regular nets during passive trapping.  Today it was captured in one of our fall migration nets and has officially become data for the 2012 fall banding season.  Lastly, we banded 2 Chipping Sparrows which, despite being a fairly common winter bird, we have never banded before today.  Other highlights included a Sharp-shinned Hawk (7th of the season), and a Worthington's Marsh Wren.  The Worthington's Marsh Wren is a subspecies of Marsh Wren that is resident on the coast of South Carolina and Georgia.  It lacks the brightly colored markings of its migratory cousin (the Eastern Marsh Wren) and is also noticeably smaller in the hand.

 

We also had 5 more returning Yellow-rumped Warblers: original banding dates - 11/18/09, 11/11/11, 11/13/11, 11/25/11 (2).

 

 

Chipping Sparrow (after hatch-year, sex unknown)



Savannah Sparrow (hatch-year, sex unknown)

Song Sparrow (hatch-year, sex unknown)

Swamp Sparrow (hatch-year, sex unknown)



White-throated Sparrow (hatch-year, sex unknown)



From the 5 American Goldfinches banded today, we had representatives of all 4 age/sex classes:  After hatch-year male, after-hatch year female, hatch-year male, and hatch-year female.  You can see the subtle difference in plumage color for each age/sex class below.

American Goldfinch (after-hatch year, male)



American Goldfinch (after hatch-year, female)




American Goldfinch (hatch-year, male)




American Goldfinch (hatch-year, female)



    

 

NEW BIRDS

1 Sharp-shinned Hawk

1 Marsh Wren (Worthington's)

2 Ruby-crowned Kinglet

2 Hermit Thrush

1 Orange-crowned Warbler

41 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

2 Chipping Sparrow

3 Song Sparrow

2 Swamp Sparrow

2 White-throated Sparrow

5 American Goldfinch

 

RECAPTURES

1 Carolina Chickadee

1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet

1 Hermit Thrush

6 Gray Catbird

1 Northern Mockingbird

16 Yellow-rumped Warbler

1 Savannah Sparrow

1 White-throated Sparrow

2 Northern Cardinal

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  62

# of Recaptures:  30

# of Species:  14

Effort:  93.5 net-hours

Capture Rate:  98.4 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  17 

Monday's Results: Banding Cancelled - Too Windy

It was too windy to band this morning.

 

For those looking for yesterday's post on aging and sexing Yellow-rumped Warblers click the following link:  http://kiawahislandbanding.blogspot.com/2012_11_18_archive.html

 

 

Sunday's Results: Ageing and Sexing Yellow-rumps

We got rained out today and no banding occurred. 

 

With all of the Yellow-rumped Warblers we have been getting lately (and will continue to get), I thought it would be appropriate to do a post on how banders determine the age and sex of these ubiquitous winter residents.  Before we can assign a sex to an individual it is best to determine it's age.  To do this we look for a molt limit within the alula feathers - usually between the alula covert (A1) and the lesser alula (A2).  If a molt limit exists the replaced A1 will be darker and have wider edging than the unreplaced A2 indicating a hatch-year (juvenile) individual.  Also, note that that the primary coverts have not been replaced during the first prebasic molt and are paler with narrow grayish edging.     

    

Yellow-rumped Warbler (hatch-year, female)

Sometimes we will see a individual that has not replaced any alulas making it appear as if there is no molt limit but a quick look at the carpal covert will reveal that a molt limit exists.  In this instance, the alula covert (A1) was not replaced during the first prebasic molt and the molt limit is between the replaced carpal covert and the unreplaced A1. 

Yellow-rumped Warbler (hatch-year, female)

 

During the adult prebasic molt all wing feathers are replaced therefore no molt limits exists.  Note on the individual below that there is no contrast in color between the alula feathers.  Additionally, note that the primary coverts are dark with moderately wide edging (grayish in males, brownish in females).  See the next two photos.   

Yellow-rumped Warbler (after hatch-year, male)



Yellow-rumped Warbler (after hatch-year, female)

There is much variation in Yellow-rumped Warblers but sex can be determined for most individuals.  There are several characteristics that banders look at when determining sex:  (1) color of lesser coverts, (2) size of black centers on upper tail coverts, (3) color of edging of upper tail coverts, (4) size of black centers on back feathers, and (5) amount of white on outer rectrices (tail feathers).   

1.  Color of Lesser Coverts (see previous two photos): 

         a.  Males will have bluish-gray lesser coverts 

         b.  Females will have brownish lesser coverts.

         c.  However, some adult females and juvenile males can have a mix of brown

              and bluish lesser coverts.    

 

2.  Size of Black Centers on Upper Tail Coverts (see next three photos):  

         a.  Adult males will have large black centers

         b.  Juvenile males and adult females can have moderate black centers

         c.  Juvenile females will have narrow black centers

3.  Color of Edging of Upper Tail Coverts (see next three photos):

         a.  Adult males will have blue edging

         b.  Juvenile males will have blue edging sometimes with narrow brownish tips

         c.  Adult females will have bluish-gray edging with brownish tips

         d.  Juvenile females will have grayish-brown edging

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Male)

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Female)



Yellow-rumped Warbler (after hatch-year female or hatch-year male)

4.  Size of Black Centers on Back Feathers:

         a.  Adult males will have large black centers

         b.  Juvenile males and adult females can have moderate black centers

         c.  Juvenile females will have narrow black centers

Yellow-rumped Warbler (after hatch-year, male)
Note the large black centers on the back feathers

5.  Amount of White on Outer Rectrices:  

         a.  In general, males average more white than females.

         b.  There can be a lot of variation with tail spots so it is best not to use this

              criteria without support from other characteristics.   



Yellow-rumped Warbler (female)



Yellow-rumped Warbler (male)

However, sex cannot be determined by using just one of these criteria.  Several (or all) of these criteria must agree before sex can be accurately determined.  In addition, wing chord can be helpful if some of these characteristics are conflicting with males averaging a larger wing chord than females.                  

Saturday's Results

We banded 13 new birds and had 7 recaptures of 5 different species.  The gusty winds caused us to shut down the nets after 3 hours.  Similar conditions could prevent us banding tomorrow. 

 

NEW BIRDS

1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet

1 Gray Catbird

10 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

1 White-throated Sparrow

 

RECAPTURES

1 Northern Mockingbird

1 Gray Catbird

3 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

1 White-throated Sparrow

 

BANDING STATS

# of Banded Birds:  13

# of Recaptures:  7

# of Species:  5

Effort:  43.5 net-hours

Capture Rate:  46.0

# of Nets:  13

Friday's Results

We were short on staff and high on tide this morning so we only were able to open 8 nets.  We banded 13 new birds and had 16 recaptures of 7 different species.  All of the 13 new birds were Yellow-rumped Warblers as well as 6 of the recaptures.  We did have 3 more returning Yellow-rumps each being banded on 1/17/11, 11/26/11, and 11/29/11. 

 

We should be able to open up all of the nets in the morning and get back into the swing of things for the rest of the season.

NEW BIRDS

13 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

 

RECAPTURES

3 Carolina Chickadee

1 Carolina Wren

3 Gray Catbird

6 Yellow-rumped Warbler

1 Eastern Towhee

1 Swamp Sparrow

1 Northern Cardinal

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  13

# of Recaptures:  16

# of Species:  7

Effort:  34.6 net-hours

Capture Rate:  83.8 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  8

Thursday's Results: Rained Out

No banding occurred today due to rain.

Wednesday's Results: Good Luck Meghan, Michael, and DeeAnne!

We only opened a handful of nets this morning because of the wind and after 2 hours we had to close those down too.  We only banded 2 new birds with 0 recaptures of 2 different species.  The mega high tide this morning caused flooding of the banding station like I have never seen.  There was over a 1.5 feet of water across much of the station and even higher along the river.  The high tide was not all bad though . . .  After we closed down the nets, we tried our luck with capturing marsh sparrows.  We set up a net along the edge of the flooded marsh and a small narrow dune ridge that was not flooded.  This was one of the few spots left for the marsh sparrows to roost because the marsh vegetation was under water.  We organized a few sparrow drives and were successful in capturing 3 Savannah Sparrows, 2 Nelson's Sparrows, and 1 Seaside Sparrow.  Interestingly enough, one of the Nelson's Sparrows was already banded and it was not the one we banded yesterday!  This bird was captured in almost the exact same spot where it had been originally banded the previous winter on 2/17/12.  This bird was from the subspecies alterus meaning that is spent the summer breeding in the marshes around Hudson Bay and found its way back to the same patch of salt marsh on Kiawah Island that is was in last year!  

Savannah Sparrow (after hatch-year, sex unknown)



Seaside Sparrow (hatch-year, sex unknown)



Sadly, today was the last day for the banding assistants.  I couldn't have asked for a better crew!  They were true assets to the project and instrumental in making this season a huge success.  All their hard work will not be forgotten.  Their enthusiasm for bird banding was unrelenting even through the heat, humidity, cold, wind, mosquitoes, sand gnats, early mornings, late nights, hurricanes, and me occasionally barking orders at them.  I wish them the best in the their future endeavors! 

 

William and I (along with any willing volunteers) will close out the remaining 15 days of the fall season banding season at KIBS.     

KIBS Banding Crew 2012
From left to right:  Michael, DeeAnne, Aaron, Meghan, and William

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Kiawah Island Conservancy for proving funding and housing for the banding assistants.  The Conservancy and its members made Michael, DeeAnne, and Meghan feel welcomed and truly appreciated.  I know they enjoyed all the dinners, lunches, and hospitality that was given to them while they were here.     

NEW BIRDS

1 Gray Catbird

1 Yellow-rumped Warbler 

 

RECAPTURES

None

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  2

# of Recaptures:  0

# of Species:  2

Effort:  16.0 net-hours

Capture Rate:  12.5 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  8           

Tuesday's Results: Nelson's Sparrow

We had very good morning with 79 new birds and 14 recapture of 9 different species.  Yellow-rumped Warblers were by far the most common bird out there with 72 of them banded.  Other highlights included a Sharp-shinned Hawk and an Orange-crowned Warbler but the "Bird-of-the-Day"  was a Nelson's Sparrow!  In between net-rounds, we took advantage of the super high tide to see if any "marsh" sparrows got forced out of their normal haunts in the salt marsh to the high marsh and scrub surrounding one of our mist nets.  We successfully flushed a few sparrows but only one of them (the Nelson's Sparrow) got captured in the net.  The following individual is most likely from the subspecies alterus which breeds in the marshes along the southern and western shores of Hudson Bay.  We based that identification on the following characters: (1) lack of black in the lateral stripes on top of the head, (2) minimal amount of black on the back feathers, and (3) distinct but blurred striping in the flanks.  There are two other distinct subspecies of Nelson's Sparrow - nelsonii and subvirgatus.  Nelsonii breeds in the northern interior prairie regions of Canada and northern U.S. while subvirgatus breeds along the North Atlantic coast.  All three subspecies spend the winter in South Carolina. 

Nelson's Sparrow (after hatch-year, sex unknown)

          

NEW BIRDS

1 Sharp-shinned Hawk

1 House Wren

1 Gray Catbird

1 Orange-crowned Warbler

72 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

1 Common Yellowthroat

1 Nelson's Sparrow

1 White-throated Sparrow

 

RECAPTURES

1 Red-breasted Nuthatch

9 Gray Catbird

4 Yellow-rumped Warbler

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  79

# of Recaptures:  14

# of Species:  9

Effort:  85.0 net-hours

Capture Rate:  109.4 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  17

Monday's Results

We banded 50 new birds and 4 recaptures of 5 different species.  Today is a good representation of what a typical mid-November banding day at KIBS is like - lots of Yellow-rumps with a smattering of sparrows and maybe 1 uncommon species thrown in.  Today's highlight was the Orange-crowned Warbler!  We have banded several Orange-crowns already this season but this is the first one that actually had an orange crown.  The presence of a large orange crown patch is more indicative of males however adult females can also have a small patch.  In fact it is possible that hatch-year females can sport a tiny orange patch.  The following bird was aged as a hatch-year based on the yellowish corners of the outer greater coverts and it was sexed as a male based on the large patch of orange feathers on top of its head. 

Orange-crowned Warbler (hatch-year, male)



Orange-crowned Warbler (hatch-year, male)



NEW BIRDS

2 Gray Catbird

1 Orange-crowned Warbler

45 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

1 Swamp Sparrow

1 White-throated Sparrow

 

RECAPTURES

2 Gray Catbird

2 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  50

# of Recaptures:  4

# of Species:  5

Effort:  85.0 net-hours

Capture Rate:  63.5 birds/100 net-hours
# of Nets:  17

Sunday's Results: More Yellow-rumps . . .

Today we banded 53 new birds and had 13 recaptures of 10 different species.  We had a good diversity of species among recaptures including the Sharp-shinned Hawk that we banded on Thursday.  Another interesting recapture was a House Wren that was originally banded on 10/28/10!  We continue to see very good site fidelity among wintering migrants at KIBS especially among Yellow-rumped Warblers and House Wrens.      

White-throated Sparrow (hatch-year, sex unknown)

 

NEW BIRDS

1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet

48 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

3 Song Sparrow

1 White-throated Sparrow

 

RECAPTURES

1 Sharp-shinned Hawk

1 Downy Woodpecker

2 Carolina Chickadee

2 House Wren

1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet

1 Hermit Thrush

1 Gray Catbird

4 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  53

# of Recaptures:  13

# of Species:  10

Effort:  85.0 net-hours

Capture Rate:  77.6 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  17

Saturday's Results

We had good day of banding with 106 new birds and 21 recaptures of 13 different species.  Yellow-rumped Warblers dominated with 86 banded.  Highlights included the 5th Red-breasted Nuthatch, the 2nd Field Sparrow, and the 3rd Yellow-bellied Sapsucker of the season!  

 

We also had another slew of migrants that had been banded in previous years:   

7 Yellow-rumped Warbler (2/19/10, 3/24/10, 11/08/10, 2/17/11, 3/7/11, 11/11/11, 11/25/11)

1 Eastern Towhee (4/13/11)

NEW BIRDS

1 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

1 Red-breasted Nuthatch

3 Ruby-crowned Kinglet

2 Hermit Thrush

2 Gray Catbird

86 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

2 Palm Warbler (Western)

1 Common Yellowthroat

2 Eastern Towhee

1 Field Sparrow

5 Swamp Sparrow

 

RECAPTURES

1 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

3 Carolina Chickadee

1 Red-breasted Nuthatch

1 Hermit Thrush

5 Gray Catbird

8 Yellow-rumped Warbler

1 Eastern Towhee

1 Song Sparrow

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  106

# of Recaptures:  21

# of Species:  13

Effort:  91.8 net-hours

Capture Rate:  138.3 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  17

Friday's Results: 2 New Sparrow Species!

Another cool morning but it warmed up nicely and turned out to be a very pleasant day for banding birds.  We banded 54 birds and had 12 recaptures of 15 different species.  Many of the usual suspects were banded today along with a couple of new species for KIBS, a late Yellow-breasted Chat, and another raptor. 

 

On Wednesday when we captured 4 Sharped-shinned Hawks Will, DeeAnne, Michael and I all got to remove one from the net.  Unfortunately for Meghan that day, she did not discover one in a net.  However, she got her chance today when she walked up to net #12 and there laid our 5th Sharpie of the season!

 

The biggest surprise today was the capture of a White-crowned Sparrow and a Dark-eyed Junco.  Both species are fairly uncommon on Kiawah Island and both represent first banding records for that species at KIBS.  These two species bring our total species count for the fall banding season to 85!  

White-crowned Sparrow (hatch-year, sex unknown)



Dark-eyed Junco (hatch-year, female)



 

NEW BIRDS

1 Sharp-shinned Hawk

1 Eastern Phoebe

6 Ruby-crowned Kinglet

1 Hermit Thrush

2 Gray Catbird

37 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

1 Palm Warbler (Western)

1 Yellow-breasted Chat

2 Swamp Sparrow

1 White-crowned Sparrow

1 Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored)

 

RECAPTURES

1 Carolina Chickadee

1 House Wren

2 Hermit Thrush

6 Gray Catbird

1 Eastern Towhee (Originally banded on 10/28/11)

1 Northern Cardinal

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  54

# of Recaptures:  12

# of Species:  15

Effort:  89.25 net-hours

Capture Rate:  73.9 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  17

 

Thursday's Results: 4,000th Bird of the Fall!

We banded 42 new birds and had 15 recaptures of 11 different species today.  The 5th bird banded this morning, a Song Sparrow, was the 4,000th bird banded this fall at KIBS!  But the "Bird-of-the-Day" was a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - our 2nd of the fall!  We had another day full of interesting Yellow-rumped Warbler recaptures with four more birds that were banded in previous years (11/13/09, 01/15/10, 01/28/11, 11/15/11).  

On November 5th's post I mentioned a Yellow-rumped Warbler that we captured that was wearing a band with a number that was not assigned to me.  I received an email from the Bird Banding Laboratory informing me that the Yellow-rumped Warbler was banded by the Braddock Bay Bird Observatory near Rochester, New York on 10/03/12.  That is approximately 900 miles from Kiawah Island, SC!          

 

We were able to sex this American Robin as male based on the extensive amount of black on the head.  Additionally, we could tell that it was an after hatch-year (adult) based on the lack of molt limit within the greater coverts and the relatively large white tips on the greater coverts (see 2nd photo below). 



American Robin (after hatch-year, male)





American Robin (after hatch-year, male)



NEW BIRDS

1Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

1 Eastern Phoebe

2 Ruby-crowned Kinglet

1 American Robin

4 Gray Catbird

28 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

1 Common Yellowthroat

3 Song Sparrow

1 White-throated Sparrow

 

RECAPTURES

1 Carolina Wren

1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet

1 Hermit Thrush

4 Gray Catbird

6 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

2 Eastern Towhee

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  42

# of Recaptures:  15

# of Species:  11

Effort:  85.0 net-hours

Capture Rate:  67.1 bird/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  17

Wednesday's Results: A Day Full of Sharpies

We had a very interesting day of banding with 46 new birds and 20 recaptures of 14 different species.  The biggest surprise was the banding on not 1 but 4 Sharp-shinned Hawks!  These were the first Sharp-shinned Hawks of the season and to get four in one day is unprecedented.  There must have been a big migration of them recently.  Hawks have exceptional eyesight so the overcast skies today may have played well in our favor too as the nets are even more difficult to see when the sun is behind the clouds. 

 

Red-breasted Nuthatches continue to be very active around KIBS.  As a result we banded our 4th of the season!  

 

We also had another round a really interesting recaptures:  4 Yellow-rumped Warbler (11/13/09, 11/18/09, 1/15/10, 11/25/11).  

Sharp-shinned Hawk (hatch-year, male)



Sharp-shinned Hawk (hatch-year, male)

   

NEW BIRDS

4 Sharp-shinned Hawk

1 Red-breasted Nuthatch

1 Golden-crowned Kinglet

1 Hermit Thrush

2 Gray Catbird

30 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

2 Eastern Towhee

4 Song Sparrow

1 Swamp Sparrow

 

RECAPTURES

2 Common Ground-Dove

1 Downy Woodpecker

4 Carolina Chickadee

1 Hermit Thrush

2 Gray Catbird

9 Yellow-rumped Warbler (4 returns from 11/13/09, 11/18/09, 01/10/10, 11/25/11)

1 Northern Cardinal

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  46

# of Recaptures:  20

# of Species:  14

Effort:  85 net-hours

Capture Rate:  77.6 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  17

Tuesday's Results: Rained out, sort of . . .

The rain started around 5:45am and the radar showed no sign of clearing for several hours so we all went back to bed.  But I continued to monitor the radar and the rain cleared out around 10:30am so I decided to give it another try.  The wind was much much stronger than the weather websites claimed but we were able to open a handful of nets for an hour and a half before it got too gusty to band birds safely. 

 

We banded 11 new birds and had 4 recaptures of 4 different species. 

 

NEW BIRDS

1 Hermit Thrush

10 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

 

RECAPTURES

2 Carolina Chickadee

2 Gray Catbird (1 originally banded on 11/08/2010)

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  11

# of Recaptures:  4

# of Species:  4

Effort:  12.6 net-hours

Capture Rate:  119.0 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  9

Monday's Results: Virginia Rail!

Bird calls filled the predawn sky this morning as we were opening the nets.  That is always a good sign of a very busy day of banding!  Despite a wind shortened day we banded 143 new birds and had 5 recaptures of 14 different species.  Yellow-rumped Warblers dominated with 123 banded which will probably be the trend for the rest of the fall season.  The biggest surprise was when a Virginia Rail was brought back to the banding table!  Rails are marsh birds and not a group one would expect to find in a mist net in the scrub.  We are surrounded by marsh but the mist net where this bird was captured was far from the marsh.  It must have been migrating last night and dropped in during the darkness and was on its way to find more suitable rail-like habitat when it encountered our net.  Rails are one of my favorite groups of birds.  I studied Yellow Rails in graduate school so it was a real treat for me to get a rail today! 



Virginia Rail



We also had a couple of interesting recaptures today.  The first was a Yellow-rumped Warbler that was originally banded as an adult on 11/01/10.  The second recap, another Yellow-rumped Warbler, was wearing a band that did not match any number sequence that belongs to me.  Therefore, barring any error I made while reading the band number, this bird may have been banded by another bander this year.  It may take a little while to confirm the origin of this band but when I do, I will follow-up in a later post!       

NEW BIRDS

1 Virginia Rail

1 Eastern Phoebe

1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet

8 Hermit Thrush

2 American Robin

123 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

1 Palm Warbler (Western)

1 Common Yellowthroat

1 Song Sparrow

1 Swamp Sparrow

1 White-throated Sparrow

1 Indigo Bunting

1 Painted Bunting

 

RECAPTURES

1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet

1 Northern Mockingbird

3 Yellow-rumped Warbler

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  143

# of Recaptures:  5

# of Species:  14

Effort:  51.4 net-hours

Capture Rate:  288.2 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  17 (several closed early due to wind; all nets shut down around 10:00am) 

Sunday's Results: Chuck-will's-widow

I really didn't expect too much today because of  the south winds we experienced overnight.  However, we did much better than expected with 54 new birds and 13 recaptures of 10 different species.  Small flocks of Yellow-rumped Warblers kept us busy practically every net-round with a different net producing each time.  The most unexpected bird of the day was a Chuck-will's-widows captured during the first net-round of the morning.  This is the first Chuck that has been banded during the fall migration banding season at KIBS.  Two were banded during the spring migration banding season in 2011.  



Chuck-will's-widow (hatch-year, sex unknown)


        

NEW BIRDS

1 Chuck-will's-widow

1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet

2 Gray Catbird

48 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

1 Eastern Towhee

1 Swamp Sparrow

 

RECAPTURES

1 Carolina Wren

1 House Wren

2 Ruby-crowned Kinglet

5 Gray Catbird

1 Northern Mockingbird

2 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) - originally banded on 11/07/11

1 Common Yellowthroat

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  54

# of Recaptures:  13

# of Species:  10

Effort:  95.4 net-hours

Capture Rate:  70.2 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  17 (2 nets shut down early due to wind)

Saturday's Results: VESPER SPARROW

Today we banded 61 new birds and had 22 recaptures of 16 different species.  Yellow-rumped Warblers were once again the most abundant species with 35 banded.  It was also a very good day for sparrows with 5 different species being banded.  The Bird-of-the-Day was a VESPER SPARROW!  This is the first time a Vesper Sparrow has ever been banded at KIBS.  Additionally, it is the first one I have ever seen on Kiawah Island!  We also banded 2 "first-of-the-season" White-throated Sparrows!

 

We had some interesting recaptures today as well - 4 more Yellow-rumped Warblers have returned to KIBS after being banded in previous years.  The original banding dates are as follows:  01/15/2010, 11/09/11, 12/09/11, and 01/24/12.



Vesper Sparrow (hatch-year, sex unknown)



White-throated Sparrow (hatch-year, sex unknown)



Eastern Towhees can be aged by comparing the greater covert with the primary coverts.  In hatch-year (juvenile) birds, the replaced greater coverts will be glossy black contrasting with the duller unreplaced primary coverts.     



Eastern Towhee (Hatch-year, male)



Eye color is a characteristic that can be used to determine the age of Eastern Towhees.  Generally, adults will have a red eye and hatch-years will have a brown eye.  Caution should be used when using eye color to age Eastern Towhees after late fall as some hatch-years have already attained a red eye.  

Eastern Towhee (hatch-year, male) 11-3-12
Note the brown eye





Eastern Towhee (after hatch-year, male) 10-23-12
Note the red eye



NEW BIRDS

4 Ruby-crowned Kinglet

2 Hermit Thrush

3 Gray Catbird

35 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

1 Palm Warbler (Western)

5 Common Yellowthroat

1 Eastern Towhee

1 Vesper Sparrow

1 Song Sparrow

6 Swamp Sparrow

2 White-throated Sparrow

 

RECAPTURES

1 Red-breasted Nuthatch

1 Carolina Wren

1 House Wren

1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet

7 Gray Catbird

1 Northern Mockingbird

7 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

3 Northern Cardinal

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  61

# of Recaptures:  22

# of Species:  16

Effort:  96.9 net-hours

Capture Rate:  85.7 birds/100 net-hours 

# of Nets:  17

Friday's Results: Busy, busy day!

We had a really good day of banding with 159 birds banded along with 16 recaptures of 20 different species.  A majority of today's catch was made up of Yellow-rumped Warblers with 65 of them banded.  However, we did have a good diversity of species including a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - a first banding record for KIBS (at its current location)!  We also banded our 3rd Red-breasted Nuthatch of season and a fairly late Yellow-breasted Chat.  Other highlights included Blue-headed Vireo, American Robin, 5 Orange-crowned Warblers, and a Yellow Palm Warbler.  

 

I didn't have the time to take as may photos as I would have liked to today because we were too busy processing birds but I did manage to pop off a couple shots.

 

 

The extensive brown feathers in the head and upper parts of this bird are characteristics of hatch-year Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers.  We were also able to sex this bird as a female based on the lack on red in the throat.   



Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (hatch-year, female)



Orange-crowned Warblers can be sexed based on the amount of orange in the crown.  Most of the time this orange patch is concealed and you have to move the feathers on top of the head to see it.  So far this season all of the Orange-crowned Warblers we have banded have been females because none of them have had any orange in the crown.   



Orange-crowned Warbler (hatch-year, female)



The black lores (the spot between the bill and the eye) of this Yellow-breasted Chat is a good indicator that it is a male.  Females will have grayish lores. 

 

Yellow-breasted Chat (hatch-year, male)



The gray crown is characteristic of female Red-breasted Nuthatches.  Males will have a black crown.  



Red-breasted Nuthatch (hatch-year, female)

  

NEW BIRDS

1 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

1 Downy Woodpecker

4 Eastern Phoebe

1 Blue-headed Vireo

1 Red-breasted Nuthatch

3 House Wren

4 Ruby-crowned Kinglet

1 Swainson's Thrush

3 Hermit Thrush

1 American Robin

19 Gray Catbird

5 Orange-crowned Warbler

65 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

14 Palm Warbler (13 Western, 1 Yellow)

10 Common Yellowthroat

1 Yellow-breasted Chat

5 Song Sparrow

15 Swamp Sparrow

2 Northern Cardinal

3 Painted Bunting

 

RECAPTURES

2 House Wren

11 Gray Catbird

1 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) - originally banded on 11/14/11

1 Common Yellowthroat

1 Song Sparrow

 

BANDING STATS

# of Bird Banded:  159

# of Recaptures:  16

# of Species:  20

Effort:  97.75 net-hours

Capture Rate:  179.0 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  17